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Sing Our Story was created by London-based charity, Groundswell Arts, which specialises in creative education programmes for 0-11 year olds, their families and teachers.
Now, Groundswell Arts is collaborating with Blue Cabin to extend Sing Our Story to the North East, with a focus on care-experienced babies and children.
Jenny Young, director of Blue Cabin, explained: “Through Sing Our Story, children, parents and carers, and musicians write a unique lullaby or special song together, centered on the child’s likes, dislikes, interests and memories.
“The process helps build and strengthen relationships between children and their carers and is a celebration about the child and all that is unique about them. We are over the moon that the song will also be gifted to the family who have taken part, to keep forever.”
Over the last 12 years, hundreds of children and families have benefited from the programme including children receiving treatment at Great Ormond St Hospital.
Blue Cabin Associate Artists, Katie Doherty and Carol Bowden, and musician Eleanor Mooney, will work with 12 care-experienced families in the North East to create their own, personal songs. Each musician specialises in co-creating with care-experienced children and young people, supporting them to develop relationships and new skills.
After a series of collaborative music-making sessions with the musicians, the final song is performed and each child is given a recording of their song to keep.
Angeline Conaghan, joint artistic director and founder of Groundswell Arts, said: “Groundswell Arts is thrilled to be able to work in partnership for the first time with Blue Cabin to share the practice we have developed in Sing Our Story over the past 12 years.
“We know that songs written in partnership with carers have been described as ‘sonic security blankets’ and they support children to build their sense of identity around the things, people and places that are important to them.
“We are excited to learn from Blue Cabin’s approach to working with care-experienced families and to work with their excellent team of artists and look forward to the collaborative process over the coming year.”
Sing Our Story in the North East is funded by Youth Music. It will build on Blue Cabin’s This is the Place project, which uses the power of music-making to help care-experienced babies form attachments with their carers.
